Ten-Day War
Ten-Day War, also known as the Slovenian Independence War, was a Slovenian independence war. History After the death of the great marshal Tito many Yugoslaviaballs feared their future because of nationalism. Then on 25th, June 1991, Sloveniaball wanted his independence from Yugoslaviaball. Yugoslaviaball did not like this, and so they had a war that lasted from 25th June 1991 to July 6 1991 leading to a 10 day war. Conflict 26 June 1991 On the morning of 26 June, units of the Yugoslavia peoples army 13th Corps left their barracks in Rijeka, Croatia, to move towards Slovenia's borders with Italy. The move immediately led to a strong reaction from local Slovenians, who organized spontaneous barricades and demonstrations against the YPA's actions. There had been no fighting yet, and both sides appeared to have an unofficial policy of not being the first to open fire. By this time, the Slovenian government had already put into action its plan to seize control of the republic's border posts and the international airport at Brnik. The personnel manning the border posts were, in most cases, already Slovenians, so the Slovenian take-over mostly simply amounted to changing of uniforms and insignia, without any fighting. This was undertaken, in the words of Janez Janša, to "establish our sovereignty in the key triangle, border-customs-air control." It also had important practical effects. The border crossings were a major source of revenue. In addition, by taking control of the borders, the Slovenians were able to establish defensive positions against an expected YPA attack. This meant that the YPA would have to fire the first shot. It was fired on 27 June at 14:30 in Divača by an officer of YPA 27 June 1991 Further YPA troop movements took place in the early hours of 27 June. A unit of the YPA's 306th Anti-Aircraft Regiment, based in Karlovac, Croatia, crossed the Slovenian border at Metlika. A few hours later, a column of tanks and armoured personnel carriers of the YPA 1st Armoured Brigade left their barracks at Vrhnika near the Slovenian capital Ljubljana, heading for the airport at Brnik. They arrived a few hours later and took control of the facilities. As the YPA was the federal army, its forces were customarily deployed in various places within the federal republics including Slovenia. To the east, YPA units left Maribor heading for the nearby border crossing at Šentilj and the border town of Dravograd further west. The Yugoslav Air Force aircraft dropped leaflets over various parts of Slovenia bearing the messages "We invite you to peace and co-operation!" and "All resistance will be crushed". In the early hours of 27 June the Slovenian leadership was told of the movements of the YPA. The military leadership of the Fifth Military District, which included Slovenia, was in telephone contact with Slovenian president Milan Kučan, telling him that the troops' mission was limited to taking over the border crossings and airport. A meeting of the Slovene presidency was hastily convened at which Kučan and the rest of the members decided on armed resistance. The Slovenian government had received warnings that the YPA would use helicopters to ferry special forces troops to strategic locations. It issued a warning to the YPA's 5th Military Command District in Zagreb that if helicopters continued to be used they would be shot down. The warning was disregarded by the YPA leadership, which still believed that the Slovenians would back down rather than fight. This was, however, a disastrous miscalculation. In the afternoon of 27 June, the Slovenian TO (Slovenian Territorial Defence) shot down two YPA helicopters, with SA-7 missiles, one of them a Gazelle over Rožna Dolina, Ljubljana, killing the occupants (one of whom, Toni Mrlak, was a Slovenian pilot, as the YPA's forces consisted of nationals from all the republics). The Slovenian Territorial Defence also took up position around YPA barracks in various locations, effectively besieging them, and launched a series of attacks on YPA forces across Slovenia. At Brnik, a Slovenian TO unit attacked the YPA troops holding the airport, and at Trzin a firefight developed in which four YPA soldiers and one Slovenian TO soldier (Edvard Peperko) were killed and the remainder of the YPA unit was forced to surrender. Attacks were also launched by Slovenian TO units on YPA tank columns at Pesnica, Ormož and Koseze near Ilirska Bistrica. A tank column from the YPA's 32nd Mechanised Brigade, advancing from Varaždin in Croatia, was blocked at Ormož near the Slovenian border and found itself unable to break through a Slovenian barricade. Despite the confusion and fighting, the YPA nonetheless successfully accomplished much of its military mission. By midnight on 27 June it had captured all of the crossings along the Italian border, all but three crossings on the Austrian border and several of the new crossing points established along Slovenia's border with Croatia. However, many of its units were still stuck in vulnerable positions across Slovenia. 28 June 1991 During the night of 27–28 June, Slovenian TO units were ordered to undertake a general offensive against the YPA. The Slovenian defence ministry ordered: Additional fighting took place throughout the day. The YPA tank column that had been attacked at Pesnica the previous day was blocked by impromptu barricades of Slovenian trucks at Štrihovec, a few miles short of the border with Austriaball, where it again came under attack by Slovenian TO personnel and Slovenian police. The SFR Yugoslav Air Force mounted two airstrikes in support of the YPA forces at Strihovec, killing four truck drivers. At Medvedjek in central Slovenia, another YPA tank column came under attack at a truck barricade, where air raids killed six truck drivers. Heavy fighting broke out at Nova Gorica on the border with Italyball, where the Slovenian Special Forces destroyed three YPA T-55 tanks and captured an additional three. Four YPA soldiers were killed, among them the commander of the armored column, and nearly 100 more surrendered. Some sources claim that this was the decisive battle of the war. The border crossing at Holmec was captured by Slovenian TO forces. Two Slovenian and three YPA soldiers were killed, and 91 YPA soldiers captured. The YPA barracks at Bukovje Mansion in Bukovje near Dravograd were attacked by Slovenian TO units and a YPA weapons depot at Borovnica fell to the Slovenian TO, significantly improving the Slovenians' supply of weapons. The Yugoslav Air Force carried out attacks at a number of locations across the country, most notably at Brnik Airport, where two journalists from Austria and Germany (Nikolas Vogel and Norbert Werner) were killed and four Adria Airways airliners were seriously damaged. The Yugoslav Air Force also attacked the Slovenian TO military headquarters at Kočevska Reka and flew sorties against radio and television transmitters at Krim, Kum, Trdina Peak and Nanos in an attempt to silence the Slovenian government broadcasts. By the end of the day, the YPA still held many of its positions but was rapidly losing ground. YPA was beginning to experience problems with desertions -- many Slovenian members of the YPA quit their units or simply changed sides - and both the troops on the ground and the leadership in Belgrade appeared to have little idea of what to do next. 29 June 1991 The outbreak of the war galvanised diplomatic efforts by the European Community to find an end to the crisis. Three EC foreign ministers met with Slovenian and Yugoslav government representatives in Zagreb during the night of 28 June-29 June and agreed on a ceasefire plan, but this was not put into practice. In the morning, the Slovenians achieved several significant military successes. The YPA troops at Ljubljana Airport near Brnik surrendered to Slovenian TO forces, who had surrounded the facility overnight. In the north, several YPA tanks were captured near Strihovec and later reorganised into a TO tank company. YPA special forces attempted a maritime landing at Hrvatini but were ambushed and repulsed by the Slovenians. The YPA-held border crossings at Vrtojba and Šentilj also fell to the Slovenian TO, who seized the federal troops' weapons and tanks, providing a much-needed boost to their arsenal. The YPA issued an ultimatum to Slovenia, demanding an immediate cessation of hostilities by 09:00 on 30 June. In response, the Slovenian Assembly adopted a resolution calling for a peaceful solution to the crisis that did not jeopardise Slovenian independence, and rejected the YPA ultimatum. 30 June 1991 Skirmishing continued in several places during the day. Slovenian forces seized the strategic Karawanken Tunnel under the Alps on the border with Austriaball and captured nine YPA tanks near Nova Gorica. The entire YPA garrison at Dravograd -- 16 officers and 400 men, plus equipment - surrendered, and the garrisons at Tolmin and Bovec also fell to the Slovenians. The weapons captured from the garrisons were quickly re-issued to the Slovenian forces. 1 July 1991 More skirmishes took place, with Slovenian TO forces taking over a YPA facility at Nova vas, south of Ljubljana. The YPA's ammunition dump at Črni Vrh caught fire and was destroyed in a massive explosion, damaging much of the town. However, the Slovenians successfully captured depots at Pečovnik, Bukovžlak, and Zaloška Gorica, taking possession of some 70 truckloads of ammunition and explosives. The YPA 306th Light Air Defence Artillery Regiment's column retreated from its exposed position at Medvedjek and headed into the Krakovo forest (Krakovski gozd) near the Croatian border. It ran into a blockade near the town of Krško and was surrounded by Slovenian forces, but refused to surrender, probably hoping for help from a relief column. In the meantime, the YPA's leadership sought permission to change the tempo of its operations. Defence Minister Veljko Kadijević informed the Yugoslav cabinet that the YPA's first plan - a limited operation to secure Slovenia's border crossings - had failed, and that it was time to put into operation the backup plan of a full-scale invasion and imposition of military rule in Slovenia. However, the collective presidency -- headed at the time by Serbia's Borisav Jović -- refused to authorise such an operation. The YPA Chief of Staff, General Blagoje Adzić, was furious and publicly denounced "the federal organs which continually hampered us, demanding negotiations while they Slovenians were attacking us with all means". 2 July 1991 The heaviest fighting of the war to date took place during 2 July. The Domžale radio transmitter was attacked at 10:37 UTC (11:37 local time) and heavily damaged by two YPA Mig-21 planes. During the rest of the day there were a number of major set-backs for the YPA. The YPA convoy in the Krakovski forest came under sustained attack from TO units, forcing it to surrender. Units from the YPA's Fourth Armoured Brigade attempted to move up from Jastrebarsko in Croatia but were beaten back near the border town of Bregana. The Slovenian TO mounted successful attacks on border crossings at Šentilj, Gornja Radgona, Fernetiči and Gorjansko, overrunning them and taking a number of YPA troops prisoner. A protracted engagement between YPA and Slovenian TO forces took place during the afternoon and evening at Dravograd, and a number of YPA facilities around the country fell to Slovenian forces. At 21:00, the Slovenian Presidency announced a unilateral ceasefire. However, this was rejected by the YPA leadership, which vowed to "take control" and crush Slovenian resistance. 3 July 1991 A large YPA armoured convoy set off from Belgrade on the morning of 3 July, ostensibly to go to Slovenia. It never arrived; according to the official account, this was due to mechanical breakdowns. Fighting continued in Slovenia, with a YPA relief force heading for the Gornja Radgona border crossing being halted near Radenci. YPA forces at the Kog border crossing were also attacked by TO units. In the evening, the YPA agreed to a ceasefire and a withdrawal to barracks. In a separate incident not far from Radenci, in the village of Hrastje-Mota, a Yugoslav Mi-8 helicopter developed mechanical problems and was forced to land. The helicopter was seized by the Slovene military, but was deemed not suitable for the newly born air force and handed back to Belgrade on 13 August. 4–6 July 1991 With a ceasefire now in force, the two sides disengaged. Slovenian forces took control of all of the country's border crossings, and YPA units were allowed to withdraw peacefully to barracks and to cross the border to Croatia. 7 July 1991 and afterwards The Ten-Day War was formally ended with the Brioni Accord, signed on the Croatian Brijuni Islands. Slovenian and Croatian independence were agreed to. The terms were distinctly favourable to Slovenia; it was agreed that Slovenia and Croatia would postpone their independence for three months -- which in practical terms had little real impact -- and the Slovenian police and armed forces (Slovenian Territorial Defence) were recognised as sovereign on their territory. It was agreed that all Yugoslav military units would leave Slovenia, with the Yugoslav government setting a deadline of the end of October to complete the process. The Slovenian government insisted that the withdrawal should proceed on its terms; the YPA was not allowed to take much of its heavy weaponry and equipment, which was later either deployed locally or sold to other Yugoslav republics. The withdrawal began about ten days later and was completed by 26 October. Category:Wars Category:Events Category:Wars after 0 AD Category:Wars after 1000 AD Category:Wars after WWI Category:Wars after WWII Category:Wars during Post-Cold war Category:Wars involving Yugoslaviaball Category:Wars involving Sloveniaball Category:Yugoslav Wars Category:Wars involving Croatiaball Category:Wars involving Bosnia and Herzegovinaball Category:Wars involving Macedoniaball Category:Wars involving Montenegroball Category:Wars involving Kosovoball